


Do the Dew

by josiechambers3



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Be More Chill - Ned Vizinni
Genre: (although let's be honest everyone in bmc kinda needs a hug), (at least I hope), (said the oblivious person lol), Awkward situations, Body Swap, Bodyswap, Comedy, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Funny as Hell Situations, Light Angst, M/M, Michael Needs a Hug, Mountain Dew Purple, Panic Attacks, boyf riends — Freeform, dammit jeremy why u so oblivious, kind of a mix of happy and funny stuff and realistic drama and stuff, purple mountain dew really has body swap capabilities in canon i swear look it up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-19 20:18:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11905461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/josiechambers3/pseuds/josiechambers3
Summary: ...Specifically, the Mountain Dew Purple.*(...or that one story no one asked for where Jeremy and Michael drink purple Mountain Dew and switch bodies....)





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> First story in the BMC fandom!! It’s probably gonna be hella bad but enjoy nevertheless! :D
> 
> (Note: Intro is a little sketch now because my fUCKIN COMPUTER DECIDED TO DIE AND LITERALLY DELETED LIKE FIVE PAGES OF THIS SO I LOST THE ENTIRE THING. But I mean I rewrote it and hopefully it’s better now that I’ve done it twice? idk just read and enjoy, man. *le shrug* also this ended up about forty-five pages longer than I intended it to be so. *another shrug* It’s good shit tho. Not just bs or something.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day One.
> 
> The Body Swap is a Thing, freaking out, Rich and Jake being idiots, Jeremy being oblivious.

            “Jeremy, this is amazing! I can’t believe you found this!”

 

            Jeremy Heere smiled fondly at his best friend Michael Mell as he gushed about the event they were at, brown eyes bright with excitement.

 

            It was a little over halfway through their senior year, and the entire senior class was on a trip to Orlando, Florida. The bus ride all the way down there had kinda been hell (and the ride back would no doubt be worse), but once they were actually there, everyone was having loads of fun (which was an understatement, in all honesty).

 

            Of course, they had gone to all of the traditional places during the trip, Universal Studios being one of them. There, Jeremy had been able to enjoy the sight of Michael in full geek-out mode, dressed in his Hogwarts robes and Hufflepuff gear (back from that one obsession when they were both eleven and eagerly awaiting their letters to Hogwarts) and waving around a wand at everything (including the animatronic dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park area of the park...). Then, another night, the seniors had all gone to a mystery dinner theatre show, where Michael had been able to enjoy the sight of Jeremy in a pink, fluffy apron and maid’s outfit (but that was a long, completely different story in entirety).

 

            Later on in the trip, on this particular afternoon, they had all been bussed to a giant Disney strip mall and given the rest of the day to shop, hang, whatever they wanted. (Jeremy wasn’t really sure how the mall felt about hundreds of teens being herded in without warning, but he bought a small dinosaur figurine that kinda looked like something from Michael’s most recent gaming obsession for his next birthday and a hat so he didn’t die in the surprising heat, so he felt a little better about it. At least they were getting a lot of business from the rowdy crowd of teens.)

 

            At first, Jeremy and Michael had been in a group with the surprising friend group they had somehow gained after the whole...incident last year, a group that consisted of Rich’s proclaimed SQUIP Squad: Christine Canigula, Rich Goranski, Jake Dillinger, Chloe Valentine, Brooke Lohst, and Jenna Rolan. But after walking around a bit, the group had eventually broken apart, with Rich and Jake stopping by a sports store to gawk at merch and the girls all insisting on going into a huge Disney store. Jeremy and Michael didn’t really mind, though, and the two best friends had found themselves wandering aimlessly around the huge strip mall, licking away at too-expensive ice cream.

 

            While they had been wandering past a fountain (and in the middle of Michael trying to convince him to run into said fountain because what good friend doesn’t want to get their bestie kicked out of a mall?), Jeremy had spotted a giant Coca Cola store, and, knowing his best friend, had promptly steered them in that direction. Which had led them to where they were now.

 

            Now the two were situated on the top level of the Coca Cola store (“Four floors of complete awesomeness,” Michael had gushed before rushing past a giant ad for some new orange drink and going to the shelves to see if there were any retro drinks anywhere).

 

            The fourth floor was an outdoor bar-type setting, only with soda instead of alcohol. People chatted quietly, the roof blocked just enough sun but the open sides let in just enough warmth, the perfect amount of hesitant spring breeze whispered by.

 

            And what made it even better was that, on that very day, there just so happened to be a taste-testing event of sodas through the years and from all around the world.

 

            So, Jeremy and Michael, being the nerds they were, were situated at a small table in the corner, two trays filled with tons of little sample cups in front of them

 

            “I seriously can’t believe we got this lucky!”

 

            Michael was still geeking out. He looked up at Jeremy with bright eyes. “This is so awesome! I, like, totally love you, dude!”

 

            Jeremy felt his heart flutter in his chest.

 

            Wait.

 

            Uh.

 

            What.

 

            Jeremy laughed nervously, rubbing at the back of his neck. “U-uh, yeah, m-me too, dude.” Shoving mild confusion away, he tried to smile at Michael; it came easy.

 

            Michael smiled an ~~adorable~~ excitedly devious smile. “Now what do you say let’s do this.”

 

            Jeremy grinned. “You’re on!”

 

            They both picked up their first sample cup.

 

\---

 

            The boys left nothing untouched, save an old Coke from the sixties (after all, didn’t Coke used to actually have coke in it?), a minty soda with an unpronounceable name from Zimbabwe (that in all honestly tasted like mouthwash, which Michael swore to Jeremy that it forever haunt his poor taste buds), and of course the Mountain Dew (which Jeremy nearly had an anxiety attack over until Michael threw those samples away). Everything else, however, they downed almost like shots, no matter how good or bad the drinks were.

 

            There were good ones (warranting reactions like “This one’s definitely my favorite, dude!” and “I think I’m in love” and “My taste buds are totally orgasming right now”), and of course, there were bad ones as well (“This one tastes like cough syrup” and “What is it with Japan and weird stuff?” and “Green apple really needs to just stay a candy flavor” and “I can’t tell if this one tastes like cotton candy or nightmares”).

 

            Eventually, though, Jeremy and Michael each only had one sample cup left: one that housed a suspicious dark purple-ish liquid.

 

            Jeremy cautiously picked up the cup and sniffed at it suspiciously. Grape. “What’s this one?”

 

            Michael grinned at the brunette’s antics as he consulted a small booklet. “Let’s see, this one’s...Mountain Dew Purple. It’s an experimental new one. Huh”

 

            The two of them paused and stared suspiciously down at the innocent-seeming sample cups of the stuff.

 

            “...It seems harmless,” Michael said aloud finally. “I don’t remember anything about this Mountain Dew coming up in my research. All the guy I talked to online said was that green activated SQUIPs, and red deactivated them.”

 

            Jeremy wasn’t quite convinced. “I’m not so sure...,” he said hesitantly.

 

            Michael shrugged. “Why don’t we drink it together? That way, if we die and get resurrected as zombies or something, at least it’ll be together!” He tried to turn it into a joke, intending to calm Jeremy down, the brunette knew.

 

            It worked. Jeremy found himself smiling, although he was still a little hesitant.

 

            “W-well, cheers, then,” he said, holding up his sample cup and clinking it with the one Michael offered.

 

            “Cheers!” Michael grinned cheekily at Jeremy, who suddenly found his face red and his palms sweaty. (Eh, it was probably the fact that he was about to drink purple Mountain Dew and didn’t know if it was going to kill him or maybe turn him into a furry or something. Not Michael. It definitely wasn’t Michael.)

 

            Then the boys downed their Mountain Dew Purple samples in unison.

 

            Jeremy swallowed, trying to get rid of the overpowering taste of grape.

 

            Then he sat and waited for the world to end.

 

            Nothing happened.

 

            Michael grinned at Jeremy. “See? I told you nothing bad would—”

 

            And then Michael’s eyes rolled up into his head, and his head thunked loudly down onto the table, sending empty sample cups flying and rolling and sending that minty mouthwash one spilling all over Jeremy.

 

            Jeremy’s eyes widened. “Michael—!” he began, only to find himself doing the same as his best friend.

 

            Everything went dark.

 

\---

 

            Jeremy came to feeling...weird. Not, like, “Holy shit I’ve been zombified” weird or “I feel like I just did a shit ton of weed then drank that old sixties Coke that actually had coke” weird or anything. Just...weird. Like something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

 

            Jeremy slowly peeled his face off of the table, and his glasses slid dangerously far down the bridge of his nose as he did. He blearily pushed them back into place.

 

            Wait.

 

            What?

 

            Since when did Jeremiah Heere have glasses?

 

            “Mm...Michael?” he asked cautiously, croakily. Only it didn’t come out sounding like him. It came out sounding like....

 

            Wait.

 

_What?!_

 

            Jeremy’s eyes widened as he focused in on the figure across the table who was just beginning to stir, groaning quietly. A figure dressed in a familiar striped shirt and blue cardigan. A figure with familiar tousled brown hair.

 

            Swearing under their breath, the figure picked themself up and off of the table, and Jeremy stared.

 

            At himself.

 

            He was staring at himself.

 

            Jeremy let out a loud, high-pitched yelp, scrambling backwards in his chair. His chair scraped across the floor on two legs and threatened to tip. He yelped again, louder, wheeling his arms in the air and scrambling madly to maintain his balance.

 

            “W-what,” he stammered once he had regained his balance, “wh-what.”

 

            And then he looked down at himself and saw that dark, tanned skin, saw that red jacket with all of the patches, saw everything, and he realized what had happened.

 

            No. No. Oh god. Oh, _god_. This wasn’t possible. This wasn’t physically possible.

 

            Jeremy stared at his own body, which Michael was now apparently _inside_ , his now brown eyes wide. No. Not his eyes. Michael’s eyes. He was in Michael’s body. Michael’s body. _Michael’s_. Not his. Why was he in Michael’s body? How was he in Michael’s body? It didn’t make any sense. He was in Michael’s body and it felt weird, weird, weird, and it didn’t make any sense, and he couldn’t breathe how could he take in air what was air and he was having a panic attack _in Michael’s body_ and it just felt so weird and strange and foreign and, and all he could do was stare at Michael, now in Jeremy’s own body across the table, and try to breathe breathe _breathe_ just breathe—

 

            “J...Jeremy?” he heard Michael say with his voice, _Jeremy’s own voice_ , say drowsily. Michael rubbed at his—at Jeremy’s—eyes. That minty mouthwash drink was stuck all up the side of his—of Jeremy’s body’s—face and even in his hair, a sticky mess.

 

            Through the hazy eyes of a slowly fading, forcefully repressed panic attack, Jeremy Heere watched Michael slowly realize that he wasn’t in his own body.

 

            “H-holy shit.” Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body gaped at Jeremy-in-Michael’s-body. “What the actual fuck?”

 

            Jeremy couldn’t seem to speak. He couldn’t find the ability to, couldn’t find the words to use. “I-I—uh, we—uh—”

 

            Michael rubbed at his head ( _Jeremy’s head_ ), frowning. “Am I dreaming? Please tell me I’m dreaming.”

 

            Jeremy shook his head, unable to voice anything. It wasn’t a dream.

 

            “Or am I high?” Michael pondered next. “Please. Tell me this is just a weed-inspired fantasy. I’m in my basement right now and I’m just hallucinating. Maybe the dealer accidentally gave me the wrong thing...?”

 

            ...Fantasy?

 

            Well, it certainly was fantastic, Jeremy thought. Not in a sense of “amazing. wow” but, you know, more of an unreal fantastic.

 

            Suddenly, Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body seemed to notice the look in Jeremy-in-Michael’s-body’s eyes, the look of a Jeremy about to have that panic attack he had previously forced away and break down completely; apparently, that look remained the same no matter whose body Jeremy was inhabiting.

 

            Almost immediately, Michael was next to Jeremy. “Can I touch you?” he asked quietly. He really didn’t have to ask, since he had helped Jeremy through so many of these attacks, but he always did nevertheless, which touched Jeremy.

 

            Jeremy nodded, looking down at his hands. Michael’s hands.

 

            As Michael hugged him (with Jeremy’s own spindly body, like, _what_ ), Jeremy focused in on his breathing, staring down at those hands. Michael’s hands. Which were...his, now. He had always enjoyed Michael’s hands. They were very hold-able. But he wasn’t sure how much he really enjoyed being in Michael’s body and wearing those hands.

 

            He could feel himself starting to freak out again at that thought, so he closed his eyes tightly and focused more on his breathing. In. Out. In. Out. _This is not happening. This is not real. Even if it is, we’ll fix it. We always do. Because we’re a team, we are. We are. So it’ll be okay. We’ll be okay._

 

            Jeremy realized with a start that Michael was the one whispering those things soothingly into his ear.

 

            Jeremy drew in a shuddering breath, and exhaled it slowly.

 

            It was okay. He was okay.

 

            ...Well, maybe not quite yet, but it would be okay. He would be okay. Michael would help him make it okay.

 

            “You calm?” Michael asked softly.

 

            “You know, it’s really weird being hugged by myself,” Jeremy cracked weakly as a way of affirming that yes, he was calmer now.

 

            Michael laughed quietly. “Yeah, it’s pretty weird hugging myself.”

 

            Michael slowly drew away from Jeremy and sat back down again, closing his eyes and breathing deeply to calm himself as well. “Okay, now that’s been dealt with and there’s no imminent panic, how the hell do we figure out what happened, and how the _fuck_ do we fix it?” he asked.

 

            Jeremy shrugged. “I have no fucking clue,” he answered in Michael’s voice. Part of him wanted to start panicking again, but that wouldn’t help. He had to help, had to fix this, had to help Michael fix this.

 

            “Okay, then let’s just start with the obvious and work from there.” Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body leaned forward, staring intently at Jeremy-in-Michael’s-body. (It felt hella weird seeing that intense look on Jeremy’s own face.)

 

            “Okay.” Jeremy swallowed heavily. His—Michael’s—throat suddenly felt dry.

 

            “I’m in your body, and you’re in mine.”

 

            Jeremy-in-Michael’s-body laughed nervously. “Yeah. Yeah, we are. We s—we switched bodies.” He could feel his laugh ( _Michael’s_ laugh) growing more hysterical, so he quickly stopped laughing.

 

            Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body cracked an equally nervous grin. “Yeah. We did.” His grin ( _Jeremy’s_ grin) disappeared.

 

            “So how the hell do we get back?”

 

\---

 

            After switching phones (so Jeremy could have his own phone and vice versa) and a flurry of texts sent from Jeremy to Christine, said girl (alongside Brooke, Chloe, and Jenna) were sitting in front of Jeremy and Michael, eyes wide and disbelieving.

 

            “...Okay, Christine said you said it was an emergency, but like, the only emergency I’m seeing is the mess that is your face right now.” Chloe gestured to Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body’s face. “Do you, like, want some napkins or something?”

 

            Once Michael had cleaned up his-slash-Jeremy’s face, Jeremy and Michael quickly began to explain their situation to the three uninformed girls and re-explain their situation to a still-stunned Christine.

 

            And once they had done that, all four girls, not just Christine, were gaping at the two boys, eyes wide and disbelieving.

 

            “That’s...that’s not possible,” Brooke stammered.

 

            “Agreed,” Christine said. “It just sounds like the plotline of a really bad musical.”

 

            “Well, so did the whole incident last year, but that still was definitely possible and still definitely happened,” Jeremy muttered sourly in Michael’s voice.

 

            “How do we even know that it happened? Maybe it’s just you two playing a trick,” Jenna spoke up.

 

            “Wh-what?!” Jeremy half-yelled, his voice cracking slightly. “Why do you think we would joke about something like this?!”

 

            “Whoa, chill, dude,” Christine said.

 

            “I’m just trying to be the voice of reason here,” Jenna defended herself.

 

            “She has a point, Jeremy,” Michael said to Jeremy.

 

            ...Okay, it sounded really fucking _weird_ for Michael, in Jeremy’s own body, to refer to Jeremy (in Michael’s own body) using Jeremy’s own voice. Not that the entire situation wasn’t really fucking weird.

 

            “S...so what if we say something that you know only we would say or something?” Jeremy suggested hesitantly.

 

            Chloe shrugged. “Yeah, that’ll work.”

 

            Everyone stared expectantly at Jeremy-in-Michael’s-body.

 

            “W-wait, why are you all looking at m-me?” he yelped, his voice cracking as he said ‘me’ (and dammit, why did it _still_ do that even though he was speaking in Michael’s voice? so unfair!). “Why do I have to go f-first?!”

 

            Christine laughed. “Yup, that’s Jeremy.”

 

            The other girls joined in a chorus of agreements and laughter.

 

            Sulking, Jeremy crossed his-slash-Michael’s arms, turning to his body and its current resident. “Well, what about you, Michael? Your turn.”

 

            Michael, who had been snickering alongside the girls, sobered up quickly. With a somber, almost uncomfortable look on his face, he spoke: “Halloween last year. Jake’s bathroom.”

 

            Brooke frowned. “What do you—”

 

            “That’s Michael, all right,” Christine interrupted firmly.

 

            Jeremy frowned. What had happened at last year’s Halloween party in the bathroom?

 

            “Anyway, so now that we have that out of the way,” Michael quickly, awkwardly changed the subject, “how exactly are we going to fix this mess?”

 

            Jeremy voiced his agreement. “Y-yeah. I-I mean, you’re cool and all, Michael, but I don’t wanna be stuck in your body forever! We have to find a way to fix this!” He turned to look at the girls, eyes wide and pleading. “Please tell me someone has an idea. Something. Anything.”

 

            Silence.

 

            Finally, Christine sighed. “I’m sorry, but I have no clue.”

 

            The other girls shrugged.

 

            “I mean, we’ve never had anything like this happen before,” Brooke spoke up.

 

            Glancing briefly down at her phone screen, Chloe spoke next. “And we don’t have any time to figure it out. It’s almost five-thirty, guys. We have to get back to the buses to head to dinner.”

 

            “...Well, the Mountain Dew Purple is probably what did this, right?” Michael suggested. “I guess I can go online and try to locate the guy I talked to last year when we had our problem. Maybe he’ll know how to fix this too.” He paused, looking down gloomily. “If I can even find the guy again. It took forever to track him down in the first place.”

 

            “That may be the best chance we have, then,” Christine admitted reluctantly.

 

            Jeremy’s heart sank. No! There had to be some way to fix this.

 

            He voiced this, trying hard not to panic.

 

            “Hey.” Chloe shrugged. “Just be glad you didn’t end up switching bodies with one of us.”

 

            “Or, like, Rich or something,” Brooke piped up.

 

            Both Jeremy and Michael grimaced. Yeah, that wouldn’t have been good.

 

            “Let’s just head back to the buses,” Michael said, resigned. “We can keep talking about this on the way.”

 

            “And we can ask Rich and Jake about it,” Brooke suggested.

 

            Jeremy had a sinking feeling that all Rich and Jake (mostly Rich) were going to do was laugh (if they even believed Jeremy and Michael in the first place). “Sure,” was all he said aloud though. Then he paused. “W-wait! D-don’t...don’t tell anyone about this yet, okay? Michael and I will tell Rich and Jake later if we haven’t figured out a solution. But I don’t want anyone else to hear about this.”

 

            Everyone nodded, then stared pointedly at Jenna, ever the gossip.

 

            “Fine! I swear! Cross my heart and whatever,” she said, exasperated. “I’m not that much of a blabbermouth.” She paused, seeing everyone’s disbelieving looks. “When I want to be. And it’s not like anyone would believe me, anyway.”

 

            Jeremy sighed, relieved. He didn’t want anybody to know about this, hopefully ever, and at the least not until they had run through all the possible ways to fix this.

 

            “And I thought the...incident last year was weird,” Brooke muttered to herself as they all stood to leave. “Just when you think you’ve seen it all....”

 

            Jeremy found that he agreed wholeheartedly.

 

\---

 

            The walk back to the buses was a struggle. Learning how to walk in a different body with a different weight distribution was surprisingly hard, and since even walking in his own body was usually a struggle for Jeremy, it was doubly hard for him, and ended up with him falling many, many times. Michael didn’t seem to have as much of a problem, and openly laughed at him alongside the others for his clumsiness while Jeremy grumbled at them, red-faced and feeling kinda sour about the entire thing.

 

            Sitting next to Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body on the bus ride to dinner managed to make Jeremy feel a little better, though. Mostly because Michael, sensing Jeremy’s impending panic, simply snagged ahold of Jeremy-in-Michael’s-body’s hand and held it for the entire ride, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

 

            The one bonus of being in Michael’s body (that Jeremy had noticed so far) was that his hands seemed pretty much incapable of sweating (unlike Jeremy’s hands, which had the perpetual issue of being sweaty and clammy no matter what the situation), remaining comfortably cool and dry against Jeremy’s body’s warm, thin fingers.

 

            And then they managed to make their way through pretty much all of dinner like that as well, sitting next to each other, with Michael grabbing Jeremy’s hand whenever he sensed Jeremy’s put-on-hold panic growing too strong and threatening to get loose again.

 

            Dinner passed in a blur, with everyone (except a completely, hilariously oblivious Rich and Jake, who chattered on aimlessly and without a care in the world) lost in their thoughts, and soon enough, they were all headed back to the hotel for the night.

 

            Jeremy, Michael, Rich, and Jake walked into their shared hotel room.

 

            “Man, am I stuffed!” Rich announced loudly and contentedly, Jake nodding in agreement and laughing fondly at his boyfriend.

 

            Jeremy flicked on the light while Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body walked silently over to the bed the two were sharing. Then, Michael flopped unceremoniously onto the bed, face-first. He lay there silently, face-down, Jeremy’s gangly body spread across the entire bed.

 

            Jake looked down at what he no doubt thought was Jeremy. “Dude, are you okay?”

 

            “I’m fine,” came the muffled voice. Other than that, Michael didn’t move or say a word.

 

            “Oh.” Jake stared down at Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body for a moment more, then shrugged. “Okay.”

 

            “I’m gonna use the bathroom,” Jeremy suddenly announced loudly. He quickly went in and shoved the door shut behind him, locking it.

 

            For a moment, he stayed like that, back pressed against the bathroom door as he tried to breathe properly.

 

            Then he sank down to the floor, back still against the door, and curled up, arms around his legs and face buried in his knees.

 

            Jeremy struggled to breathe steadily as the brevity of everything that had happened that day seemed to finally sink in and hit him. It felt like the weight of the world had just sucker-punched him in the stomach and knocked the breath out of him.

 

            In. Out. In. Out.

 

            Michael and he had swapped bodies.

 

            In.

 

            Michael and he had _swapped bodies_.

 

            Out. In. Out.

 

            Michael and he had swapped bodies, and they didn’t know how to fix it.

 

            But it would be okay.

 

            In.

 

            Hold.

 

            It would be okay, right?

 

            Jeremy frowned and shook his head. Michael’s head.

 

            Out.

 

            It would be okay. It was gonna be okay. It had to be okay. It just had to.

 

            In. Out. In. Out.

 

            After all, he and Michael were a team. Player one and player to. Boyf and Riends (Rich had never let them get over that one). They were best friends, practically brothers. (No. Nope. _No._ Some part of Jeremy immediately rejected the thought of them as brothers. No. No. _Ew._ Just...just very close friends. Very, very, very close friends. Very.) So there was nothing they couldn’t do, right?

 

            In. Out.

 

            After all, they had kinda kicked the SQUIP’s ass together last year at the play.

 

            In. Out.

 

            And this time, Jeremy wouldn’t screw up majorly, like he had last time. He wouldn’t ignore Michael for months (although, being in Michael’s body, it wasn’t really like he actually could). He wouldn’t ruin it all. He wouldn’t do that. He would be a bigger, better help.

 

            In. Out.

 

            Jeremy closed his eyes. Michael’s eyes. Yeah, you know what, they _were_ Michael’s eyes. But he was...he was just borrowing them temporarily. Just like he was borrowing the rest of Michael’s body. He would think of it like that. Like when he borrowed Michael’s blue crayon the first time they ever talked in kindergarten. Like when he borrowed Michael’s skateboard to try and impress some girl who had long since moved away in fourth grade. Like when he borrowed one of Michael’s Wii controllers when he broke his own and didn’t have the money to buy another in eighth grade. Like when he borrowed Michael’s favorite hoodie when he had a panic attack so bad that he just needed something that felt like home at a party in tenth grade.

 

            And Michael, Michael was just borrowing Jeremy’s body temporarily, too. Jeremy was just lending Michael his own body. Like when he lent Michael his favorite book in second grade. Like when he lent Michael his home-made Pac-Man ghost costume for Halloween in fifth grade. Like when he lent Michael his best tie for the school dance when Michael had that stupid crush on some stupid other boy in seventh grade. Like when he lent Michael his favorite game when he was sick with the flu and Jeremy wasn’t allowed to go over to hang out in ninth grade.

 

            So surely it was just a similar concept to that, Jeremy tried to tell himself.

 

            Only it was them borrowing each other’s bodies this time, not just some other possession of theirs.

 

            There was a quiet knock on the door, and Jeremy jumped slightly.

 

            “I’m really sorry for interrupting,” Jeremy’s own voice came softly, tiredly through the door, “but others of us have to have freak-outs in the bathroom, too.”

 

            “Oh!”

 

            Jeremy immediately scrambled up, unlocking the door and opening it to let Michael in. He suddenly found himself feeling guilty. Here he was, panicking and wallowing in his own feelings, while Michael had been forced to keep it together the entire time, having to be the strong one and keep Jeremy from panicking and flipping out entirely.

 

            Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body stepped wearily inside the bathroom.

 

            Jeremy quickly pulled Michael into a hug.

 

            Surprised, Michael went stiff for a second, then he relaxed into the hug.

 

            “Have you told Rich and Jake?” Jeremy asked quietly, wincing when it came out in Michael’s voice, not his own.

 

            Michael mutely shook his head.

 

            “We’ll tell them when you get out, then, okay?” Jeremy murmured into his body’s own shoulder.

 

            Michael nodded.

 

            “Are you okay?” Jeremy asked softly. He paused. “No, no, that was a stupid question. I know you’re not okay. I’m not okay.” He paused again. “But will you be okay?”

 

            Michael spoke up quietly. “...Yeah. I think I will be. Eventually.” He laughed quietly. “I could just really use a joint right now to get my mind off of this.”

 

            “Heh, definitely.”

 

            They fell silent for a moment; then Michael spoke up again.

 

            “But damn, I have to say, it’s nice to be the tall one for once.” He laughed softly, resting his chin on top of Jeremy-in-Michael’s-body’s head.

 

            Jeremy laughed alongside him. “It really is weird to be hugging myself though.”

 

            Michael gently disentangled himself from Jeremy, then stared into his eyes and reached towards Jeremy’s face.

 

            Jeremy froze, sucking in a quiet breath.

 

            Michael reached forward...

 

            ...and gently disentangled his headphones from Jeremy-in-Michael’s-body’s neck, sliding them around his own neck.

 

            Jeremy felt himself turn red as he started breathing regularly again. What had he just thought was going to happen there?

 

            “You should probably get back out there.” Michael gestured outside to the rest of the hotel room and grinned half-heartedly. “Knowing Rich, he’ll probably think we’re sc-screwing or something like that.” Michael laughed, but Jeremy knew him well enough to know that it was forced.

 

            Jeremy nodded and tried to laugh, but felt himself tense up a little and turn red instead as Michael said that.

 

            Michael stared pointedly between him and the door.

 

            “Oh. Right.” Jeremy flushed a bit more and quickly made his way out of the bathroom, going over to his shared bed with Michael and flopping down on his side, getting out his phone as an excuse to avoid talking to Rich and Jake for the moment.

 

            And he waited, texted his father distractedly to make sure everything was okay back home, and absent-mindedly pulled up cat videos and bootlegged musical songs on YouTube, trying not to think of Michael, over there in the bathroom and possibly panicking and freaking out, and trying not to think of how much he just wanted to go over there and hold Michael and tell him it was going to be all right and make it be all right.

 

\---

 

            When Michael finally came out of the bathroom, Rich stood and stretched.

 

            “About time, Tall-Ass!” Although he still called Jeremy that (and thus now called Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body that), he meant it endearingly now, not as an insult. “I desperately need to take a piss and get a good shower.” He looked mischievously at his boyfriend. “Care to join?”

 

            “U-um, actually,” Jeremy spoked up awkwardly from where he was on the bed, “Me and Mi—uh, we have something we need to talk to you about.”

 

            Michael nodded and went over to sit on the bed next to where Jeremy was.

 

            “What?” Jake asked.

 

            “Are you two finally dating?” Rich asked, grinning. “Do you two want the shower first?”

 

            “Wh-what?! No! N-no! _No!_ ” Jeremy yelped, while Michael next to him in Jeremy’s body turned an impressive shade of red.

 

            (Aw, shit, Jeremy realized. He really did look like a tomato when he blushed. Dammit.)

 

            Rich and Jake looked at him strangely.

 

            “What is it then, dude?” Jake asked.

 

            Rich made finger-guns. “Shoot.”

 

            And so Jeremy and Michael slowly opened up and told the two what had happened to them that day at the Coca Cola store, what with the taste-testing and the purple Mountain Dew and the whole damn swapping bodies thing.

 

            “...And...yeah,” Jeremy finished, feeling extremely awkward.

 

            Rich and Jake stared.

 

            “Uh, what,” Jake finally said.

 

            “I-it’s true!” Michael hastened to agree. “Even though this is Jeremy’s body and voice, I’m Michael.” He gestured to Jeremy. “And even though that’s my body and voice, that’s Jeremy. We can prove it.” He looked at Jeremy. “Here, say something that only you would say, Jer.”

 

            There they went again.

 

            “Uh, okay,” Jeremy said uncertainly. He looked at Rich. “Um, when you first told me about the...a-about the SQUIP, we were in the boys’ bathroom by the math hallway on the second floor, and you were...you know, using the bathroom? And you, uh, k-kinda missed the—”

 

            “Okay, okay, I believe you, Jeremy!” Rich yelped, face beet-red as he quickly tried to cut Jeremy off from recounting that little detail.

 

            It was easy enough for Michael and Jake to fill in the details, though, and both of them snickered, thoroughly amused.

 

            “A-all right, and you?” Rich quickly tried to change the subject from him to Michael. “You say something so we know it’s definitely you.”

 

            Michael glanced quickly at Jeremy, then leaned in and whispered something to Rich and Jake so that Jeremy couldn’t hear.

 

            Rich and Jake immediately burst into laughter; Michael immediately turned red; Jeremy immediately wanted to know what had been said. It hadn’t been anything embarrassing about him, right?

 

            “O-okay, so that’s been established.” Michael seemed keen on not looking at Jeremy at the moment, focusing in on Rich and Jake again. “Do you guys have any idea how we might be able to switch back into the right bodies again?”

 

            Rich shrugged. “Sorry, man.”

 

            Jake looked thoughtful. “Maybe if you tried drinking more of the Mountain Dew Purple? Maybe it’ll cancel itself out.”

 

            Michael shrugged. “Maybe. We can give it a try. I dunno if we’ll be able to find any, since it’s a new soda that I’ve never seen anywhere else.”

 

            Jeremy had a sudden idea. “Wait, Mountain Dew Red worked...last time we had...problems. What if it works this time, too? Maybe all of these different-colored Mountain Dews do weird things, and maybe Red cancels them all out?”

 

            Michael looked at Jeremy proudly. “Smart, Jer. That just might be it!” He grinned. The grin soon faded, though “...But I don’t have any Mountain Dew Red with me.” He looked down, sheepish. “I know I usually do just in case, but I didn’t think we could possibly need it on this trip, so I didn’t bring any.”

 

            “That’s okay,” Jeremy quickly reassured his best friend. “You didn’t see this coming.” He laughed nervously. “I don’t think any of us did.”

 

            Michael nodded, looking less guilty. “True, true.”

 

            “All of this shit is just confusing me and making me even more tired,” Rich announced.

 

            “Agreed,” Jake said, nodding. “Why don’t we call it a night? Maybe we’ll have more ideas in the morning. And we can run the two ideas we have by the girls and see if we should give them a try.”

 

            Jeremy nodded in reluctant agreement, sighing. “Maybe if—if we sleep on it, we’ll think of s-something else.”

 

            “Well, then,” Rich stood and stretched again, “if you don’t mind, I’m borrowing the bathroom first.”

 

            Jeremy nodded distractedly, mind still racing and trying to think of answers. He kept coming up blank, though.

 

            But despite that, he kept trying to think while everyone got ready for bed. And he kept coming up blank, time and time again.

 

            Eventually, as he and Michael brushed their teeth in the bathroom (both had decided for very obvious reasons to avoid taking a shower that night), Michael commented on it.

 

            “Dude, stop thinking so hard,” Michael advised, his voice slightly garbled as he flossed. “You need to rest and calm down completely. Plus, you’re in such deep thought that you kinda look constipated.” He snickered, then sobered up. “And it’s really weird to see my face looking constipated like that.”

 

            Despite himself, Jeremy had to laugh at that. As he did so, he nearly choked on his mouthwash.

 

            Jeremy let out a splutter and quickly spit out the mouthwash (and it tasted just like that mint soda thing they had tried earlier. ew).

 

            Jeremy straightened up and stared at himself and Michael in the mirror.

 

            “We have got to find a way to fix this.” He sighed.

 

            “And we will,” Michael decided firmly. “Let’s just relax and get some sleep for now, okay?”

 

            Jeremy nodded. “Okay.”

 

            And he tried to follow that advice. He really did.

 

            It was just weird trying to fall asleep, just as it was weird trying to do other things in someone else’s body.

 

            At least, it was until Michael wordlessly slid into bed right next to him and pressed right up close to him.

 

            Then, at least, with his best friend right there next to him, right there if Jeremy needed him, it was easier to relax and close his eyes. (Even if it was Michael in Jeremy’s own body, which was still really freaking weird.)

 

            Even having shared a bed a bunch of times before, they hadn’t cuddled like this since elementary school.

 

            And as he drifted off to sleep with the warm, reassuring comfort of his favorite person being next to him, Jeremy found himself drowsily wondering why they had stopped doing that and wishing they had never stopped.

 

\---

 

            Jeremy woke to pitch darkness and a tugging in his stomach.

 

            He lay there for a moment, wondering why he had woken up. Then he understood the feeling in the pit of his stomach.

 

            Shit.

 

            He rolled over, debating whether to wake up Michael or not, then sighed and gently shook Michael awake.

 

            Michael groaned, groggily muttering a quiet “Hunh?” as he stirred.

 

            “Michael. Mikey.” Jeremy shook the now-brunette more. “Wake up. _Michael_.”

 

            Michael groaned tiredly. “Unh...what is it, Jer?”

 

            “I...um, I, u-uh.” Jeremy struggled to find a good way to say what he had to say. There were none. Sighing and shoving aside any and all feelings of embarrassment (and as Jeremiah Heere, he had plenty of those on hand at all times of the day), he just said it straight-out.

 

            “I have to pee.”

 

            Silence.

 

            Then Michael let out a muffled snort. “Really? You woke me up for that?” He moaned, his amusement turning into being annoyed. “Why did you wake me up for that, man?”

 

            Jeremy thought it was obvious. “W-well, yeah.” He turned red. “I—I mean, it’s your body. I don’t wanna...get in your space or cross any lines or anything.”

 

            “Dude, we crossed so many lines when we switched bodies that it honestly doesn’t even matter anymore,” Michael groaned. But there was still an embarrassed pause before he spoke again. “It’ll be...fine. It’s not like we haven’t seen each other nude before or anything.”

 

            Jeremy turned redder. “Yeah, when we were, like, seven!”

 

            “And that one time you dared me to streak across that old lady’s yard in eighth grade,” Michael snickered.

 

            “...True,” Jeremy admitted.

 

            “Geez, dude, you’re fine!” Michael sighed loudly and exaggeratedly, rolling over to where he was facing away from Jeremy. “Just go take a piss already! I want you taking care of my body while you’re inhabiting it, and that includes shit like this.” He paused. “Pun not intended, but I’ll roll with it.”

 

            Jeremy nodded, red-faced. He slowly, awkwardly stood up and began to make his way over to the bathroom, stumbling once due to the unfamiliar body, and then nearly running into a suitcase another time with a small thunk. “Shut up and go to sleep,” he grumbled at Michael, when a quiet snicker rang through the otherwise silent room.

 

            Jeremy fumbled his way into the bathroom and felt around on the wall for the light switch, turning it on with a small click and wincing in the sudden bright light.

 

            Jeremy closed the door and locked it, turning to face the toilet.

 

            Then he stared.

 

            After a few moments, he turned red.

 

            “Look at me,” Jeremy muttered to himself. “Hi, I’m Jeremy Heere, only right now it looks like I’m Michael Mell. I’m having a staring contest with a toilet at one in the morning, while inhabiting my best friend’s body, just because I’m being stupid and stubborn.”

 

            What was he even freaking out about? Michael was his best friend. Plus, it wasn’t like he’d be seeing anything unusual. Michael was a guy; so was he. What was the big deal? Why was he so freaked out about this?

 

            Idiot.

 

            Jeremy sighed. He would just close his eyes and keep them closed the whole time. That would do something, at least.

 

            He snapped his eyes shut and awkwardly, jerkily went about his business, thoroughly embarrassed.

 

            But what terrified and mortified him even more than the situation itself was that he wanted to open his eyes. Wanted to take a peek.

 

            Why?

 

            Jeremy wrote it off as exhaustion and, as he washed his hands with the hottest water and most soap possible, he stared into the mirror and vowed to never think of that or even think like that again.

 

            Flicking off the light in the bathroom, Jeremy stumbled back to bed and fell into it, automatically nestling back in next to Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body.

 

            As he drifted off again, Jeremy vaguely imagined he felt Michael’s now-thin arm loosely come to rest over his hip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I hope this is at least mildly enjoyable. :) And I hope that the characters weren’t too OOC. If they were, though, I would love tips on how to fix and improve that!! Constructive criticism is of course welcomed, too.
> 
> Fun Fact: Originally planned to make this a lot different, SHORTER..., and a lot more angsty than this. I made it more of a comedic, light-hearted thing instead though because A) that’s what I write best, B) the other version wasn’t flowing or working as well as I wanted, and C) because wHY THE FRICK NOT.
> 
> Another Fun Fact Because You Guys Totally Care *sarcasm*: The strip mall they went to is an actual place, as is the store. I actually went with a bunch of friends and did that taste-testing thing once, although thankfully there was a lot less body-swapping when we did it haha. :)


	2. Day Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day Two.
> 
> A waterpark, more freaking out, Rich and Jake being stupid, oh and of course realizations of love (It's About Time Jeremy).

            Jeremy was usually the first of the four boys to wake up, but the next morning was mildly different.

 

            At seven on the dot, he was always awake and ready to jump out of bed, and that morning was no different. (Hey, old habits died hard, especially when they were electrically shocked into you by a microchip supercomputer implanted into your brain.)

 

            But he wasn’t the only one stirring.

 

            Next to him, Michael—still in Jeremy’s own body, as Jeremy was dismayed to discover (having prayed it had all just been a really bad dream)—was stirring as well, most likely since Jeremy’s body still remembered the SQUIP’s influence and got phantom shocks.

 

            Michael shifted in his sleep and let out a quiet, soft groan. His arm slid off of Jeremy’s waist, trailing dangerously lower.

 

            Jeremy nearly jumped out of his skin (or, well, Michael’s, he supposed). He quickly moved Michael’s arm away from dangerous territories and off of his body completely for a good measure.

 

            Of course, it didn’t really help that the two of them were squished together on the hotel bed, as closely as possible, with Michael’s soft breath hitting Jeremy’s neck.

 

            ...And of course, now that he was thinking about it and actually noticing it, Jeremy couldn’t seem to stop thinking about that warm breath, softly puffing out against his neck....

 

            Ohhh-kay, getting up now.

 

            Jeremy shot up in bed, legs swinging over the side of the bed as he glanced at the clock, which read seven on the nose.

 

            Suddenly, Michael shot up as well. Or, well, Jeremy’s body did. The soul inside it still seemed to be completely out of it. “Gah!” said soul mumbled, half-asleep. “Wh...wha?”

 

            “Good morning to you too, Michael,” Jeremy mumbled to his best friend, smiling slightly.

 

            “Wh...what time is it?” Michael asked, rubbing his now-blue eyes with his hands.

 

            Jeremy looked over at the clock again. “...Seven oh-one.”

 

            “This is too damn early for me to even be existing right now,” Michael moaned, raking a hand through his hair, which was sticking straight up. “Why does your body want to be up and about at seven in the freaking morning? I’m feeling tons of pins and needles, dude.”

 

            Jeremy looked down. “...That’d be the phantom shocks left over from the SQUIP,” he admitted quietly. “I’m sorry you’re having to deal with them.”

 

            Michael looked earnestly at Jeremy. “Dude, I’m sorry you have to deal with them on a daily basis. I don’t mind dealing with it for, what, a few days, tops? That’s nothing.”

 

            “That’s not nothing,” Jeremy muttered, but he grudgingly let it go. He knew Michael. Michael would be Michael.

 

            Instead, Jeremy focused on his hair. Well, it wasn’t his hair at the moment...at the moment, Michael was wearing it alongside the rest of his body. “God, why didn’t you ever tell me how horrible my hair looks in the morning?” he said to try and change the subject. “It’s sticking straight up and looks like a rat’s nest.”

 

            Michael reached up to tug at a lock of the brown hair. “I don’t think it looks bad. I always thought it was cute.” He froze, pink dusting his cheeks slightly. “I mean, endearing,” he hastily rectified. “Endearing. Uh. Y-yeah. But that’s just my opinion as, you know, best friend of twelve years and all.”

 

            ...Okay then.

 

            Michael looked over at a still-slumbering Rich and Jake, his face still slightly pink. He grinned mischievously (and it was very worrisome to see one of Michael’s usual devilish grins on Jeremy’s own face, Jeremy had to say). “What do you say we give them some sort of wake-up surprise?”

 

            Jeremy grinned right back at Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body. Good idea. Do normal morning stuff. Pretend everything’s okay. No panic attacks today. “Now, that’s an idea I can get behind. What should we do?”

 

            Michael pondered this. “Draw on their faces with sharpie? Hands in warm water? Shaving cream? The usual prank stuff?”

 

            “I dunno, seems a little lame to me,” Jeremy responded quietly, in full scheme mode. “Act like we’re back in our own bodies?” He paused, slumping in on himself as he mentally gave himself a whack for suggesting something so dumb and pointless. “Nope. No. Not only is that totally lame and stupid, that’s even worse.”

 

            Michael sniggered suddenly. “Let’s just write something on their foreheads. Something matching. Something like, ‘I eat dick’ and ‘I am dick’ or something.”

 

            Jeremy straightened up, grinning. “Sounds good to me, Michael.” He hopped up and out of the bed, scampering over to his luggage (with minimal klutziness, thank god) and fishing around for a marker. “Let’s do this.”

 

            And that was how Jeremy, Michael, and a freshly-tattooed (and freshly-irritated) Rich and Jake greeted the girls as they made their way down to breakfast.

 

            Chloe, Brooke, Jenna, and Christine thought that the sharpie prank was hilarious, and they all (save Rich and Jake, of course) laughed about it on the elevator ride down to breakfast. Jenna, of course, had to snap a picture of the two of them and post it online, too.

 

            “You do know this means war, right?” the proclaimed Richard “I eat dick” Goranski threatened Jeremy and Michael.

 

            “Definitely,” proclaimed Jake “I am dick” Dillinger (...Dick-linger? Dick-inger? nope, _nope_ , Jeremy could never let Jake hear that or he legitimately might die). “We’ll get you when you least expect it.”

 

            Jeremy had the sense to feel mildly terrified at the promise.

 

            The girls only laughed harder, Michael alongside them.

 

            “Wait, why are we even mad at this?” Rich realized suddenly. He gestured to the phrase written across his forehead in black permanent marker. “It’s completely true.” He grinned cockily up at his boyfriend. “Dick.”

 

            Jake nodded, grinning back. “True.” He paused. “Dick-eater.”

 

            And just like that, Jeremy and Michael’s amusement turned into mortification. Rich and Jake would wear those phrases with pride, wouldn’t they...?

 

            “Well, that backfired,” Michael grumbled slightly.

 

            “We’ll still have our revenge, of course,” Jake said, smiling nonchalantly, as if he were merely talking about the weather and not the horrible violence he would no doubt later commit against Jeremy and Michael.

 

            Jeremy shuddered. Yep, that was a little terrifying. More than a little, honestly.

 

            Chatting and joking as normally as they could manage, the group of teenagers steadfastly avoided talking about the more serious matters at hand until they were all seated around a large table in the hotel’s café, breakfast in front of them.

 

            “So.” Christine leaned forward, looking intently at Jeremy and Michael. “Has anything changed, or are you two still stuck in each other’s bodies?”

 

            Jeremy looked down at Michael’s body’s hands as he avoided answering the question, using his fork to push around eggs and sausage links that no longer seemed so appetizing.

 

            “...Yeah,” Michael spoke up. “We’re still stuck in each other’s bodies.”

 

            “Well, shit,” Rich said aloud what everyone was thinking (more or less).

 

            “So then what do we do about it?” Brooke asked the group.

 

            Jenna shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I’m useless without my morning hit of caffeine.” She took a huge gulp of her scarily large, scarily full coffee. “That’s better.” She paused to think a moment. “...Nope, still no ideas.”

 

            “I got nothing, too,” Christine sheepishly admitted. “Sorry.”

 

            “It’s fine,” Michael reassured her. “No sweat.”

 

            Jeremy spoke up. “W-well, we actually came up with a few things we could try before we went to bed last night,” he supplied hesitantly. “We thought maybe—maybe drinking more Mountain Dew Purple would cancel out the effects? O-or maybe that drinking Mountain Dew Red would fix it, just like it did with the whole p-problem last year.”

 

            “Okay.” Chloe nodded thoughtfully.

 

            “Well, I mean....” Jenna trailed off dubiously. “They might work.”

 

            “They’re definitely worth a shot, at least,” Christine decided, ever the optimist. “Maybe one of them will work.”

 

            “Maybe the effects only last, like, a whole twenty-four hours or something!” Brooke suggested. “So then maybe it’ll wear off, like, sometime this afternoon, right?”

 

            “I dunno.” Jeremy sighed, looking at his tray. Yeah, breakfast was not appealing in the slightest anymore. He put down his fork and pushed the tray away slightly.

 

            “Maybe,” Michael said hopefully. He looked over and noticed Jeremy not eating. “Hey! Dude, you have to keep my body healthy while you’re in it, and that includes actually eating, Jer!”

 

            “I know,” Jeremy replied distractedly. “I’m just...not that hungry right now.”

 

            “Well, you should still try to eat something,” Michael insisted.

 

            “I-I’m really not,” Jeremy tried to insist, but Michael wasn’t having any of it.

 

            “Dude, you seriously need to eat,” Michael huffed, “and if you’re not gonna do it, then I’ll do it for you.”

 

            Jeremy froze. What?

 

            Suddenly, Michael had his fork in hand, with a large bite of sausage speared on it. And he was forcing the fork towards Jeremy’s face. “Here comes the airplane and all that shit,” Michael deadpanned, completely straight-faced.

 

            Jeremy ducked away, but didn’t react soon enough. The bite of sausage ended up forced awkwardly into his mouth, and he quickly choked it down. “D-dude, what the hell?!” he sputtered at a cheekily grinning Michael.

 

            “Dude!” Rich whooped, his voice filled to the brim with innuendo. “Michael finally made Jeremy eat the sausage!”

 

            Jenna choked on her coffee.

 

            Jeremy let out a screech and jerked his chair away from the table, then flailed around as he nearly fell backwards for the second time in two days.

 

            Brooke snorted, then turned red, embarrassed at the sound.

 

            Jake high-fived Rich, then stole a quick kiss.

 

            Chloe shrugged and continued tapping at her phone.

 

            Michael dropped his fork and turned a deep red (and dammit, why did Jeremy’s body turn so obviously red? it was so ugly. it made Jeremy wish he were back in his own body, and Michael in his own. he was willing to bet that red flush would look better on Michael’s own body, not Jeremy’s. wait. okay. no. he did not just think that. moving rapidly on). “G-guys! N-no! Really?”

 

            Rich shrugged. “What can I say. All’s fair in love and war. Which,” he pointed at Jeremy and Michael with his fork, “is a surprisingly accurate saying when it comes to this.”

 

            Jeremy flushed, and Michael flushed even more. (God, why had nobody ever told Jeremy that his body was capable of turning the color of Michael’s hoodie? That was so embarrassing....)

 

            Jenna turned on her phone for a second, glancing at the lock screen. “We’ve gotta be at the buses in fifteen to head to the park. Five if we wanna actually get good seats.”

 

            The teens all nodded and began to clean up the remains of their breakfast.

 

            “Okay, so a quick game plan before we head,” Christine spoke up.

 

            “Wait for this afternoon to see if we switch back naturally,” Michael responded. “And I’ll try to get in contact with the guy I messaged last time as soon as I can.”

 

            “A-and if we don’t switch back n-naturally, t-try to find some Mountain Dew P-purple?” Jeremy hesitantly added next.

 

            “And then, if all else fails, find some Mountain Dew Red!” Rich provided finally.

 

            “Yeah, that seems to cover the basics,” Christine said thoughtfully.

 

            “Cool,” Jake said, grinning. “Cool cool cool.”

 

            “Yeah, sweet,” Brooke agreed. Then she paused. “Wait, how are we going to find Mountain Dew Purple? I mean, I guess we could go back to that store, though. But how are we gonna find Mountain Dew Red? That’ll be, like, impossible!”

 

            “Actually, I just ordered some online,” Chloe spoke, still looking down at her phone. “It’ll arrive at the hotel tomorrow morning.”

 

            Jeremy honestly felt touched.

 

            “Chloe, you may act all prissy, but on the inside, you’re just a giant teddy bear, aren’t you,” Michael voiced his thoughts, looking at the brunette, amazed.

 

            She tossed her hair. “Be careful, Mell, or you two will be at war with me, too. And that’s not something you want to happen.”

 

            But Jeremy could sense the gentle kidding in her sharp voice. And he would be lying if he said his heart didn’t melt a little.

 

            Jeremy wasn’t quite sure how he had ended up with such good friends (heck, he sure as hell didn’t deserve them), but looking at Rich, bouncing around like a really short ball of energy...Jake, laughing at something stupid Rich had said...Jenna, doing who knows what on her phone (but chatting with Brooke too)...Brooke, braiding Jenna’s hair and talking to her...Chloe, pretending to be above it all (but secretly holding Brooke’s hand under the table)...Christine, excitedly trying to explain something in theatre-speak to a confused Michael...and Michael. _Michael_.... (Michael who didn’t have a clue what the heck Christine was talking about but who was listening anyway, Michael who was no doubt struggling with sensory overload so early and so tired and so overwhelmed in the morning, Michael who caught Jeremy’s eye just to give him a small, crooked smile...Michael.)

 

            Jeremy wasn’t quite sure how he had ended up with such good friends, but he felt suddenly glad to have them all by his side.

 

\---

 

            By the time Jeremy, Michael, and their friends were sitting on the bus, on the way to a nearby waterpark that was in connection to Universal Studios, the whole body swap seemed less like a bad dream and more like a bad comedy. A really bad comedy.

 

            Thankfully, the day would be spent at a waterpark, in small groups and blissfully free from teachers and chaperones (save the check-in times to ensure everyone was okay and not off hooking up or doing drugs or whatever they expected the teens to do), so it wasn’t like Jeremy and Michael would have to worry too badly about the whole thing.

 

            But man. It was still really freaking _weird_.

 

            Sometimes Jeremy would forget about the whole thing, forget about being in Michael’s body, for a moment, only to be startled back into the reality of it by catching a glimpse of what was now himself in the mirror or pushing his slipping glasses up the bridge of his nose.

 

            And, of course, Michael, despite being in Jeremy’s body, still had his headphones wound faithfully around his neck and his red hoodie pulled snugly over him. Which, as he was currently in Jeremy’s body, just made things awkward. Not only did Jeremy privately think that Michael’s hoodie looked baggy and completely unattractive over Jeremy’s own body’s thin frame, at least three people had come up to them by now, congratulating he and Michael on finally “making it official.” Making what official? How? What do you mean, “it always seemed obvious”?!

 

            Which of course prompted the whole awkward conversation between him and Michael about how one of the signs of two people dating was one wearing the other’s clothes, especially jackets or hoodies. As, for those not in the loop about the body swap thing (so essentially the entire senior class), it appeared Michael and Jeremy had “finally” done. And then, of course, the “it always seemed obvious” phrase fully sank in, which resulted in not-so-mild panic and major denial on Jeremy’s part and strange emotions and closed-off-ness on Michael’s.

 

            But that little episode was done and over with and hopefully forgotten about (although it probably wasn’t; ten bucks said it would be brought up at someone’s wedding later in life alongside many of Jeremy’s other little panics), so there Jeremy was, in the window seat like he preferred and staring out the window, watching cars pass through blurred eyes as he got lost in thought about how absurdly sad and hilarious (and sadly hilarious) his life was. Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body sat next to him (and was steadfastly ignoring him and the others for whatever musical artist he was listening to this time).

 

            At least his life hadn’t become a soap opera, Jeremy thought resignedly to himself. Better weird shit about supercomputers and body swapping than weird shit about love and relationships and the English butlers that always seemed to be involved (those damn butlers) and (cue shudder), his least favorite shape of all...love triangles.

 

            Jeremy glanced back at his friends: Christine, who was belting out “Sincerely, Me” from _Dear Evan Hansen_ ; Brooke, who was cautiously joining her; Chloe, who was “reluctantly” joining in on the choruses; Jenna, who was unabashedly videoing the whole thing; Rich and Jake, who were absorbed in something on Jake’s phone; and Michael-in-Jeremy’s-body, who was also off in his own world, a world full of music and probably Bob Marley (and maybe weed).

 

            Yeah, as freaking strange as the whole body swap thing was, better this than a soap opera.

 

            After all, the really sad thing about this was that this wasn’t the weirdest thing that had ever happened to Jeremy. After The Incident last year, Jeremy had thought he had seen it all. Obviously, faced with this entirely new situation, he hadn’t, but nothing could quite top last year’s Incident in strangeness.

 

            Jeremy stared through Michael’s glasses out the window, watching the cars blur and pass by. He slid the glasses off, curious about how the world looked to Michael without his glasses on.

 

            The world was a blur of vague lights and shapes.

 

            “Geez, man, you are, like, totally blind,” Jeremy commented to Michael.

 

            No response.

 

            Oh, right. Michael had his headphones in. Idiot.

 

            _Can you be any more stupid,_ that little voice in the back of his head sneered.

 

            No. No. Nope. He’s in Michael’s body. That’s not the SQUIP. You’re just imagining things. That’s not the SQUIP. You’re okay. Think good thoughts. Think about something good. Think good thoughts. Like....

 

            Michael. Playing video games with Michael, getting stoned in Michael’s basement with Michael, slushie runs with Michael, feeling like his home was with Michael, laughing and joking and being socially awkward with Michael....

 

            Right then and there, as he was sitting in Michael’s body next to Michael in Jeremy’s own body, it occurred to Jeremy that his life had revolved around Michael Mell for almost thirteen years straight (except, of course, for during the SQUIP Times, but after having a big heart-to-heart about that whole thing about a month after The Incident, they never really talked about that time again).

 

            Wow. That’s a long time, Jeremy thinks dumbly.

 

            And then it occurs to Jeremy that Michael is the only person who had been in his life for so long, the only person who had been a constant in his life for so long. His mom was long gone by the time high school came around, and by that point, his father was mentally checked out of Hotel Fatherhood, too. And there was no one else in his life.

 

            It was a lonely life to live, but it had been a life with Michael, so it was okay.

 

            And now there were more people, and Jeremy had Actual Friends now, which was even better, but Michael was still his best friend, even after The Incident, which was best.

 

            Jeremy was startled out of his thoughts by someone poking his arm.

 

            He turned to see Michael looking intently at him, sliding off his headphones for a moment and resting his hand on Jeremy’s knee.

 

            “Hey.” Michael looked him in the eye.

 

            Jeremy had to fight the urge to look away. (It was weird getting stared down by your own eyes. He didn’t think he was ever gonna get used to being in Michael’s body...although hopefully he would never have to.) “Y-yeah?” he asked, his voice sounding strangely dry.

 

            “You have your usual ‘I’m deep in deep thoughts’ look, and it’s weird seeing it on my own face,” Michael chided. “Don’t worry. We’ll fix this.” He smiled reassuringly at Jeremy as he slid his headphones back on one-handed, keeping the other on Jeremy’s knee.

 

            Jeremy smiled back. Michael was wrongly assuming that he was still freaking out about this (which in all honesty, part of him still was, but he had locked that part of him away for the day, trying instead to pretend that it was a perfectly normal trip with the perfectly normal occurrence of spending time in his best friend’s body). Good. Better than he know Jeremy was thinking about Michael himself.

 

            Jeremy loved how Michael knew him so well that Michael could tell when something was wrong with him. He loved how Michael knew just how to calm him down. He loved that Michael’s hand was just sitting casually on his knee, not expecting anything and not pressuring anything, just _there_ , to help if Jeremy chose to let him.

 

            He just loved Michael. God, he loved Michael.

 

            Michael was the best friend Jeremy could ever ask for.

 

            ~~But...there was something more than that. Some other thought, some other lingering feeling in his heart and his stomach...something warm and comfortable. Like home.~~

 

            The bus pulled into the parking lot, interrupting Christine’s surprisingly kickass rendition of “Good for You” (also from _Dear Evan Hansen_ ). Jeremy marveled at how she was able to go from singing a raging, angsty song to squealing in less than a second.

 

            Michael slid off his headphones for good, leaving them resting around his neck. He also slid his hand off of Jeremy’s leg, grinning uncertainly at Jeremy himself.

 

            They would fix this whole body swap fiasco. They would. Eventually. Soon.

 

            For now, though, they just had to get through the day.

 

\---

 

            The chosen destination for the day was a waterpark. Jeremy wasn’t really sure why, since it was spring and therefore would be completely _freezing_ , despite them being in Florida, but the teachers at their school had proven time and time again that they weren’t the most intelligent sort when it came to common sense (or even their subjects, honestly; freshman year Jeremy and Michael had had a Spanish teacher that spoke French, not Spanish...suffice to say, that had been the last language class either of them had set foot in).

 

            After being admitted into the park, Jeremy, Michael, and their group stood at the entrance of the waterpark, taking in the sights while Chloe and Rich argued over a map of the park and over the “plan of attack” (at least, that’s what their plan for the day was according to Rich).

 

            Michael nudged Jeremy. “Wanna try and find an arcade and hide there for the day?”

 

            Jeremy laughed. “I wish, man.” He pouted. “I don’t think they’d have arcades at a waterpark though.”

 

            Michael made a face that was extremely weird to see on Jeremy’s own face. “Don’t pout while you’re in my body. Ew, it looks weird.”

 

            Jeremy laughed. “Well, you don’t make that face when you’re in my body, either.”

 

            Michael grinned. “I think we can come to a consensus that I just look pretty weird in general.”

 

            Actually, he really didn’t. Not in Jeremy’s book (and as someone who was very bi and very into guys, his opinion counted). Come to think of it, Michael was actually pretty attractive.

 

            Nope, not thinking about that right now. Especially not while in Michael’s body. _Way to make things even weirder than they already are, Heere._

 

            “I think we can come to a consensus that we both just look pretty weird in general,” he joked instead.

 

            Michael frowned at that, putting his hand on his chin and pretending to look thoughtful. “I don’t know, you really have this pretty boy aesthetic going on—”

 

            He was just joking, like Michael did best, but Jeremy cut him off anyway. “Nope!” he yelped. “N-not having this discussion!”

 

            Michael snickered, then nudged him into looking at the rest of the group, which had started walking to a large collection of waterslides. “C’mon. Looks like they’ve made up their minds.”

 

            Jeremy and Michael began to follow the others at a slight distance.

 

            Jenna glanced back at Jeremy and Michael as they lagged behind. “Hurry up, lovebirds!” she called, grinning.

 

            Jeremy flushed. “D-dude!” he yelped. “N-not funny!”

 

            “Yeah, they’re in each other’s bodies, but not in _that_ way.” Rich wiggled his eyebrows, grinning like a madman. “Yet.”

 

            Jeremy turned even redder. “G-guys!” he screeched. “S-seriously!”

 

            Michael was the only one to agree with him. The others were too busy laughing their asses off to care much.

 

            Christine finally took pity on him. “Come on, if we don’t hurry, there’ll be long lines,” she reminded them, wiping a tear of mirth out of the corner of her eye.

 

            “Shit!” Rich remembered. He sprinted the rest of the way. “No!”

 

            Christine and the others laughed. Jeremy and Michael even managed to let out strained chuckles, relieved that the attention was off of them.

 

            Jake let Michael and Jeremy catch up to them, then eagerly began debating whether water video games or actual physical water games were better with Michael (“Actual water activities are cooler. Literally.” “Video games means you don’t actually have to get wet, though, but you still have fun.” “But water polo, man! Hot, angry, fit girls fighting each other in water!” “Dude, I’m gay. And if Rich heard you say that....”)

 

            Jeremy grinned and jogged slightly to catch up to Christine. He pointed to one of the kiddie rides they were passing, one with boats that looked like miniature pirate ships floating around and playing some version of bumper cars, only in water. “Am I the only one thinking of _Peter Pan_?” He grinned, knowing the girl wouldn’t be able to resist talking about it.

 

            Christine grinned. “Of course not!” As Jeremy had hoped she would, she eagerly began a mostly one-sided conversation about Captain Hook and his finer points as an antagonist and character, followed by rambles about how cool it would be to play Peter Pan someday (“It’s so awesome that a girl can play Peter Pan!”).

 

            The group arrived at the water slides, where Rich was waiting, arms crossed, foot tapping, and with a pout on his face.

 

            “I’m gonna go to the wave pool instead, if anyone wants to come,” Chloe announced suddenly.

 

            “I’ll go!” Brooke immediately piped up.

 

            “I’ll come too,” Jenna volunteered.

 

            “I’m gonna go with the slides,” Christine decided. “I like slides!” She grinned a grin that had Jeremy thanking god she was into theatre and not daredevil stunts (because as much as Christine loved things like that as well, if she had ever tried, Jeremy had the feeling he would be down a friend).

 

            Jeremy and Michael looked at each other and shrugged.

 

            “Slides,” they chorused.

 

            “Okay, then how about we meet up at noon to have lunch?” Jake suggested, getting a chorus of agreements.

 

            And the groups split up and went their respective ways.

 

\---

 

            All in all, it wasn’t a heinous day.

 

            It still was really awkward being in Michael’s body, but Jeremy quickly discovered a plus: Michael’s body didn’t burn. Like, at all. Which was a definite plus. Jeremy’s body was the kind of pale whiteness that could get burned under a fluorescent bulb, much less the sun shining brightly down, as Michael quickly discovered (“Why is your arm turning so pink, Jer?” “Michael! Take care of my body, d-dammit!”).

 

            The water rides, slides, and everything were really enjoyable, for the most part (except when Rich and Jake insisted they all go on some stupid Tunnel of Love ride. “Ew,” Jeremy, Michael, and Christine had all agreed before sitting that one out).

 

            The two groups joined up at lunch, as promised, and stayed together from then on, mostly just hanging out in one of the wave pools, splashing around and joking around, although they did find a lazy river and go around it a couple times (they were forced to get off by workers, though, when Rich and Jake started chasing each other through the river, trying to see who could get to the end faster).

 

            Late afternoon slid around.

 

            No one really mentioned it, but soon it was around the same time it had been yesterday when Jeremy and Michael had switched bodies.

 

            Eventually, it was five o’clock, and the group was heading to the exit of the waterpark, pleasantly tanned (with the exception of Michael, in Jeremy’s now perpetually red and sunburned body), freezing cold in the spring breeze, and wrapped in giant towels.

 

            “It’s five o’clock, guys,” Jenna announced, looking at her phone.

 

            Brooke’s laughter (at something stupidly awkward Jeremy had said, as per usual) petered out. She looked at Jeremy and Michael. “Still no change?” she asked quietly.

 

            Michael shook his head. Jeremy let out a frustrated noise.

 

            “Okay, so like, the whole ‘maybe it’ll wear off in a day’ idea was a fail,” Jake said, shrugging.

 

            “...Maybe we should go on to plan B?” Christine suggested. “Operation Find More Mountain Dew Purple?”

 

            Michael nodded. “I guess so.” He sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

 

            Jeremy lightly slapped Michael’s hand away from his neck. “That’ll only make the sunburn worse, dude.” He looked at Chloe. “When will the Mountain Dew Red get here?”

 

            “Tomorrow morning,” she answered.

 

            “And where the heck are we gonna find more purple Mountain Dew?” Rich pondered.

 

            Michael whipped out his phone. “We’re going to that mall for dinner, right, guys?” he asked as his fingers flew over the keyboard.

 

            “Yeah,” Brooke confirmed.

 

            After a few moments of clicking around on his phone, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth in concentration, Michael whooped. “Yes! I found a place I can get my hands on Mountain Dew Purple at the mall!” He paused. “It’s kinda...like, really sketchy, but it’s our best shot.”

 

            Jeremy felt himself smiling slightly, relieved. “Good. That...that’s good. So we’ll either get this fixed tonight or tomorrow morning.” He felt some of the tension (the tension that had been lurking in his body ever since this whole thing started, not the normal tension he usually felt as a socially awkward person) easing. He couldn’t wait for this ordeal to be done and over with.

 

            “But...and I hate to be the voice of reason—like, you actually have no idea how much I hate it—but what if those plans both don’t work?” Jenna asked. She turned to Michael. “Have you been able to contact that guy online?”

 

            “I found him and messaged him, but I haven’t gotten a response.” Michael shrugged. He went oddly quiet for a moment. “Hey, I know it’s not a good idea—we can maybe make it our last option, like plan Z for when zombies are taking over the world and we have no other plans—but there’s one other person we can ask about this.”

 

            Jeremy felt uneasy about this. (Well, more uneasy than he felt about most things....)

 

            “Who?” Christine asked innocently.

 

            “The SQUIP.”

 

            The reaction was instantaneous.

 

            “NO!” almost everyone shouted in unison, getting odd looks from passers-by.

 

            Michael flinched. “Okay, okay. Geez, it was just a suggestion.”

 

            Jeremy felt sick. He grabbed at Michael’s arm. “P-please, Michael,” he wheezed, struggling to get it out. He tried not to panic. “Please, please, please, d-don’t do that. You c-can’t do that. You c-can’t face the-them. I don’t want you to—y-you—”

 

            “Whoa, okay, buddy, I won’t,” Michael soothed. “Don’t work yourself into a panic about it, okay? It was just an idea. I won’t do it.”

 

            Jeremy nodded numbly, feeling mutely relieved. “G-good,” he stammered, letting go of Michael’s now-spindly arm and letting his own fall limply to the side.

 

            Rich looked at Michael, an eyebrow raised. “Seriously. Don’t do it, dude. Do you have a death wish or something?”

 

            “No!” Michael defended. “I was just thinking, they’re supposed to know everything and whatever, so maybe they would know how to fix this? But if you guys are so adamant about it, I won’t do it, I swear.”

 

            Jeremy sighed, feeling better as the panic slowly ebbed away.

 

            Suddenly, a thought hit him.

 

            “G-guys,” Jeremy sputtered. “Tomorrow is the last day of our trip. We leave to go home tomorrow night.”

 

            “Yeah, so?” Jake asked.

 

            “That means our last chance to get to that soda store is tomorrow,” Jeremy said urgently. “So we have to switch back tomorrow or, or—or we could be stuck in each other’s bodies for who knows how long!”

 

            Jeremy watched the realization sink in and the horror dawn on his friends’ faces.

 

            “Shit,” Michael managed.

 

            “Well, that totally doesn’t make this more stressful or anything,” Jenna deadpanned.

 

            “W-why are you guys so invested in this anyways?” Jeremy asked. “They’re our bodies, not yours.”

 

            “Because you’re our friends, numbskull,” Chloe snapped. “Get it through that nonexistent brain of yours.”

 

            “Oh,” Jeremy said dumbly. “ _Oh._ ”

 

            “Now come on, hurry up,” Chloe huffed. “We’re already late to the bus.” She hurried off, trying to pretend that she hadn’t just had a Moment (even though, underneath all of the snappiness of her remark, she totally just had).

 

            Jeremy stared blankly after her until Michael nudged him back into action, then he hurried off with everyone.

 

            Damn, but it was nice to have friends that cared.

 

\---

 

            Dinner was nice and easy, just chatting with friends in a mall food court. No stressing about being in Michael’s body, no stressing about anything. Just good food and good friends.

 

            Unfortunately, they all came crashing back down into reality when Michael glanced at a clock and announced that he had to go meet with the dealer.

 

            “Dealer?” Rich asked skeptically. “Are you sure you’re getting soda and not cocaine or some shit?”

 

            “Yes.” Michael looked distinctly uncomfortable. Jeremy could tell because he was wearing that look Jeremy himself always had (because he was usually always uncomfortable himself for some reason or another, except when he was with Michael).

 

            “I’ve gotta go alone,” Michael explained further, worrying Jeremy. “These soda guys take it seriously. Mountain Dew Purple hasn’t been released on the public market yet, so this is kinda a big deal. Bigger than cocaine.”

 

            Michael stood. “If I’m not back in twenty minutes, send out the search dogs,” he tried to joke nervously, but it fell flat.

 

            And then he was gone.

 

            Thankfully, Jeremy had already eaten most of his dinner, because no matter how awesome Chick-fil-A was, he was no longer feeling very hungry.

 

            Jeremy nervously kept an eye on the clock, only half-listening to the conversation going on around him (Christine and Rich had gotten into a surprisingly passionate argument about _Frozen the Musical_ , and everyone was taking sides).

 

            Five minutes passed.

 

            The argument about _Frozen the Musical_ and whether it should really be a thing or not escalated. Now Jake was really getting into it, taking Christine’s side. Rich was threatening breakup. Jenna was filming, eating popcorn (and Jeremy wasn’t entirely sure how she’d gotten it).

 

            Ten minutes.

 

            Christine was trying to explain that, while Idina Menzel had been great and amazing, her time had come and gone and she really needed to stick to alto songs now (and plus, her time in _Wicked_ had been a much better display of her talents than her work on _Frozen_ ).

 

            Rich was verbally trying (and failing) to display how amazing “Let It Go” truly was.

 

            Jeremy began nervously tapping on the table.

 

            Fifteen minutes.

 

            The argument about _Frozen the Musical_ (and Rich and Jake’s rendition of “Love is an Open Door”) reached its peak.

 

            Jeremy’s tapping on the table doubled in speed.

 

            Twenty minutes.

 

            Jeremy stood up.

 

            “A-all right, it’s been twenty minutes, s-so I’m gonna go—”

 

            Jeremy turned to go find Michael, only to find said boy staring at him, head cocked to the side slightly.

 

            “O-oh.” Jeremy turned red and sat back down.

 

            “What, were you worried I had gotten kidnapped or something?” Michael teased as he sat down.

 

            “N-no!” Jeremy sputtered. “I just—y-you just—you’re in my body, and I didn’t want you getting yourself killed! I-I mean, I love you, man, but I don’t want to be stuck in your body forever!” He paused and slowly turned a deep red as he realized what he had just said.

 

            Michael raised an eyebrow at him (and dammit, how could Michael do that in Jeremy’s body when Jeremy had never been able to? not fair). Thankfully, though, he carefully ignored what Jeremy had said, instead letting a suspicious, unlabeled bottle of purply liquid thump onto the table. He grinned.

 

            “I got the goods.”

 

            Everyone abruptly stopped arguing about whether Olaf or Sven was the better sidekick in a fight to the death (or, in Rich and Jake’s case, stopped singing) and zeroed in on the soda bottle.

 

            “That looks totally sketch,” Jenna announced after a careful observation of the bottle and its contents.

 

            “Yeah,” Brooke agreed. “Are you sure it’ll work?”

 

            “Are you even sure it is what he said it is?” Jake asked.

 

            Michael nodded. “Yeah, this really is Mountain Dew Purple,” he answered Jake’s question. “But I’ve got no clue if it’s gonna actually work.”

 

            “Well, let’s give it a shot,” Christine said nervously.

 

            Jeremy popped the lid off of his drink cup, dumping the ice and leftover drink and ice in a nearby trashcan. Michael quickly did the same before unscrewing the top of the soda.

 

            The soda hissed as it opened.

 

            Jeremy had never found the sound of a soda bottle opening so ominous.

 

            Michael picked up the soda bottle with a shaking hand. He poured some of the soda into both of their cups before setting the bottle down and picking up his cup. “We probably have to drink it at the same time. You know, like we did last time.”

 

            “O...okay.” Jeremy picked up his own cup with a shaky hand. “Y-you don’t think this is gonna, like, kill us or something this time, do you?”

 

            Michael laughed nervously. “God, I hope not.” He gently clinked his cup against Jeremy’s. “Cheers, I guess.”

 

            “Cheers,” Jeremy echoed.

 

            They both quickly took a sip.

 

            Jeremy closed his eyes and waited for something to happen. Anything. Tingly feelings, fireworks, nausea, Rich singing more horrible renditions of Disney songs, anything.

 

            But he felt nothing. (Except for a reference to A Chorus Line that would’ve made Christine shed a tear of pride.)

 

            Jeremy opened his eyes, hoping that when he opened them, they would actually be _his_ eyes again.

 

            He turned his head to look at the other occupants of the table.

 

            The one sitting next to him was his own body.

 

            “Dammit!” he cursed, uttering another, fouler swear when his voice cracked.

 

            Michael opened his eyes as well. “It didn’t work!” He began to utter a quiet string of curses as well (and damn, since when had Michael learned to swear so creatively? he didn’t even know what “me cago en la leche” was. and since when had Michael learned Spanish?).

 

            Rich leaned over and grabbed the bottle, pulling it up to his nose and taking a deep whiff of it, as if that would solve all of their problems.

 

            “Are we even sure that the Mountain Dew Purple was what made you two switch bodies?” Chloe asked suddenly, suspiciously eyeing the bottle.

 

            Jeremy blinked. Huh. He hadn’t thought of that.

 

            “I, uh...y-yeah, I think so?” Michael replied, but it sounded more like a question than an answer.

 

            “Okay, so that’s a no.”

 

            Jake grabbed Jeremy’s cup, picking it up and eyeing the contents. He put his finger in the cup, dipping it in the soda. Taking his finger out of the cup, he stared at the small drop of purple liquid that quivered on his right pointer’s fingertip. “Are you really sure that this is Mountain Dew Purple?” he asked.

 

            “Like, really sure?” Brooke echoed.

 

            “Yes,” Michael answered, seeming a little irritated at the repeated question.

 

            “Maybe it was a one-time thing,” Rich suggested. “Maybe it was just you guys.” He stared at the bottle filled with the tantalizing liquid. “What does purple Mountain Dew even taste like?” He raised the bottle to his lips.

 

            “No!” Jeremy and Michael chorused.

 

            Rich took a swig, then swallowed. “Chill, dudes. You have to drink it at the same time as someone, right?”

 

            Michael relaxed, and Jeremy did as well (although only slightly). “True, man.”

 

            Just then, Jake let out an odd, half-strangled noise.

 

            Everyone’s eyes swiveled to stare at the brunette, who still had his right pointer finger in his mouth.

 

            Silence.

 

            Then....

 

            “Well, shit,” Rich uttered. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he slumped forward.

 

            Next to him, Jake did the same.

 

            “Gah!” Christine yelped, while Brooke shrieked.

 

            “Ch-chill, guys, it’s not like it’s gonna kill them or anything,” Michael said uneasily. “They’re just gonna switch bodies.” He shared a glance with Jeremy. “Well, that’s not really good either, I guess, but hey, they’re not gonna die.”

 

            “You don’t know that! This bottle could’ve been poisoned or something!” Jenna yelped.

 

            Just then, Jake let out an extremely loud, extremely out-of-character belch.

 

            Rich gave a start and jumped up and out of his seat, eyes wild. “Dudes, what happened?” Then he looked around and down at his hands. Stunned, his eyes got wider, if that was even possible.

 

            Jake slowly pushed himself off of the table. “What the fuck, man?” He paused. “Fuck. This is not my voice.” He looked down at his hands. “Fuck, these are not my hands.” He pulled out his pants and glanced down. “ _Fuck_ , that is _not_ my—”

 

            “Ohhh-kay!” Christine interrupted loudly, laughing nervously. “So now Rich and Jake have switched bodies, I guess?”

 

            “Y...yeah.” Rich—Jake?—Jake-in-Rich’s-body slowly sat down, not taking his eyes off of his hands. “I’m in Rich’s body. This is _not_ cool. What the actual....” He looked up at Jeremy and Michael. “I didn’t fully believe you before, but now...holy shit! This is _so_ not cool!”

 

            Rich (who was _in Jake’s body._ like, _what_ ), on the other hand, was slowly starting to grin. “Fuck. I’m in your body, Dick-inger!”  (The written phrases on their foreheads had long since washed off at the waterpark, but once Jeremy had accidentally mentioned the name, it had stuck.)

 

            Jake-in-Rich’s-body grinned hesitantly. “This is really weird.” He looked around, eyes wide. “God, you’re _short_!”

 

            Rich grinned even more broadly. “This won’t be so bad.”

 

            Jeremy and Michael looked at each other and groaned.

 

            “Okay, so now we have two pair who have swapped bodies because you two are so stupid,” Chloe snapped, half-glaring pointedly at Rich and Jake, who were experimentally shifting around in their new bodies. “Now what?”

 

            “We just have to pray that Mountain Dew Red works,” Michael said grimly.

 

            “Yeah,” Christine agreed, making a nervous sound as she shrugged. “I’m fresh out of ideas.”

 

            “M-me too.” Jeremy began to feel really freaked out again. He could feel the panic bubbling up again, and he mentally shoved it away. No. Nope. Not now. Save the freak-outs for after this whole mess is done and over with.

 

            “At least we know it was definitely the Purple Mountain Dew.” Brooke was trying to be optimistic.

 

            The other seniors began packing up and heading out of the food court, so the group of friends slowly began to follow.

 

            At least, Jeremy figured, he wasn’t the only one being a klutz anymore. Jake-in-Rich’s-body was having a hard time figuring out how to be short and still be coordinated, and Rich-in-Jake’s-body was tripping over his own now-long legs about every five seconds, grinning his ass off about it and prattling off about how he would now get to feel how it felt to Jake when Rich...and _nope_ , Jeremy was not going to listen to that conversation anymore.

 

            Jeremy sighed.

 

            How were they going to get out of this mess? It was looking more and more bleak with every passing moment.

 

\---

 

            Eight o’clock. They were back at the hotel again, in their dorm rooms.

 

            This time Jeremy was having a staring contest with the bathroom door.

 

            “H-how the hell am I going to take a shower?” he mumbled to himself.

 

            Jake’s voice came from directly behind him. “Just make sure to wash certain parts of him very well—”

 

            “N-no!” Jeremy yelped, flushing red. “Dammit, Rich! A-and never say anything like that again! Not while you’re in Jake’s body. That was really freaking weird.”

 

            “Gotta agree,” Jeremy’s own uneasy voice came from behind the two of him. Jeremy felt a little bad; after all, this was Michael’s own body they were discussing. And he tended to get really insecure about it, even though he tried not to show it or talk about it with Jeremy (which really irritated Jeremy. especially since, in his mind, Michael looked great. a whole lot better than Jeremy, that was for sure).

 

            “H-hey, we could just...n-not take showers?” he suggested slowly.

 

            Michael made a face. “Nope. We were in pools all day, and chlorine’s bad for you if you don’t wash it off.” He laughed slightly, trying to play it cool (but Jeremy knew it was an act; he knew his best friend like the back of his hand). “Plus, I don’t know about you, but I start to stink.”

 

            _No, you do not,_ Jeremy wanted to say. _Actually, you smell very nice._

 

            ...Whoa.

 

            Okay. It’s getting a little gay in here.

 

            “Hey!” Michael brightened suddenly. “We could just shower in our bathing suits.”

 

            Jeremy pondered this. It didn’t need much pondering, though. “Oh. Duh.” He laughed awkwardly. “Okay, that works.” He went to grab the swimsuit from a pile of dirty clothes, then headed for the bathroom again. “Okay. W-well, uh, see you in, like, ten, I guess?”

 

            Jeremy awkwardly went into the bathroom and shut the door behind him, locking it.

 

            He stood still for a moment, still feeling quite unused to the whole thing. Then, eyes squeezed tightly shut all the while, he stiffly shimmied out of Michael’s clothes and wiggled on the bathing suit for the second time that day (and once had _so_ been enough).

 

            Once he was done, he looked into the mirror at himself. Or, well, at himself in Michael’s body.

 

            Jeremy tried to keep eye contact with himself in the mirror, but he kept finding his eyes wanting to stray down. He wanted to take in everything about Michael’s body. Everything. He wanted to memorize it all, look at all the lines and curves and—

 

            Jesus. _No._

 

            Honestly, how many times did he need to tell himself to stop? And even though he tried to stop thinking odd thoughts like that and having odd feelings like this, and he tried to push them all away, he couldn’t. And he had had enough of it all.

 

            Why couldn’t he stop being like that? It was so...icky. Disgusting. This was his best friend’s body! He felt like such a perv.

 

            ...Although, thinking on it, it wasn’t really like this was the first time. Stuff like this, thoughts like this, feelings like this had happened plenty of times before this whole incident. Like when they had changed out for the first time in that horrible gym class ninth grade, seeing Michael without his shirt on and discovering, holy _shit_ how is Michael even that good-looking when he’s a gaming couch potato (not that being a gaming couch potato was a bad thing, as Jeremy himself was one...albeit a more spindly, gangly, awkward one) And seeing Michael’s smiling laughing face and thinking that he always wants to make Michael smile and laugh like this. And feeling lucky, so lucky to have this amazing person beside him, as his player one nonetheless, for his _entire freaking life_. And how Jeremy has no freaking idea how he ended up with Michael by his side, but how he wouldn’t change it for the world, how he’s so glad to have had Michael by his side in the good times and the bad, how he’s so glad to be able to comfort and be comforted by Michael, how he loves Michael so _much_ —

 

            Oh.

 

_Oh._

 

            Fuck.

 

            Jeremy stared at his—at Michael’s—wide eyes in the mirror. “Fuck,” he whispered quietly to himself, leaning on the counter for support.

 

            He loved Michael.

 

            He was in love with Michael Mell.

 

            _Fuck_.

 

            Jeremy turned around and staggered into the shower, turning on the water, barely flinching as freezing jets of water gushed down on him, barely flinching when the water turned scalding hot. And all the while, he couldn’t stop thinking.

 

            Michael. Michael. _Michael._ It had always been Michael.

 

            This wasn’t new. That warm feeling he had always felt with Michael, that feeling like coming home after months away, that feeling like everything was okay as long as he had Michael, _Michael_...that was...he was...oh, god. He was so in love with Michael Mell that it was almost embarrassing. And he had been so oblivious of it! But it was like that feeling had always been there, and he had never felt like that for anybody else, so it kinda made since that he had never recognized it for what it was. But still. Thinking back on it, Michael, shirtless in that changing room back in ninth grade, had been the reason Jeremy had started thinking, _hey, maybe I might be bi._ How oblivious could one get? _God._

 

            He was in love with Michael.

 

            And now he was in Michael’s body.

 

            And there was no way Michael loved him back.

 

            Jeremy had never felt more heartbroken or dirty in his life.

 

            As he showered, he tried not to think too hard about it, but he couldn’t stop no matter how hard he tried.

 

            And as the night wore on and he excused himself to go to bed early, saying he was tired but really knowing he wasn’t going to get any sleep, and as he lay facing the wall and with his back facing Michael, _Michael_ , he couldn’t stop thinking still.

 

 _I love Michael. And there’s no way Michael loves me. He doesn’t love me. He would never love me. He will never love me. And I’m still in his body. And god that doesn’t help at_ all _. Shit. Shit. Shitshitshit. I love Michael. And he—I—_

 

            The thoughts all started to blur and mesh together into a solid wall of noise in his mind.

 

            And then, through the waves of silent panic, came a clear thought.

 

_I have to get over him._

 

            Silence.

 

            But...how?

 

            How could he forget a feeling that he’d had since he could remember? And how could he do that without breaking Michael’s heart? In a best-friends way, of course, not a romantic way. Never a romantic way.

 

            Jeremy felt something on his face and reached his hand up to feel that his cheeks were wet. Tears.

 

            When had he started crying?

 

            Jeremy closed his eyes tightly, as if that would stop the tears. It didn’t work, but, he had never really figured it would.

 

_He doesn’t love me. I have to get over him._

 

            It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love how I was worried I wouldn't have enough to flesh out this chapter or make it long enough, and it's 2,000 words longer than the first chap and than my goal word count. LOL.
> 
> I also love how this was supposed to be a one-shot....
> 
> Also, while looking up weird swears and swear alternates, I found a funny one: "Barbara Streisand!" so I now totally headcanon that whenever Christine wants to swear at someone she just says that.... xD
> 
> I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations and more!! :) Have a lovely day/night/whatever lovelies~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this! I really appreciate any reads, kudos, comments, anything. If you want to see anything more from me (any one-shots or even longer stories), feel free to tell me! <3 u all~
> 
> NOTE: I know I said I wanted to have the third chapter up within a week, and I'm sorry that fell through. I'm dealing with college apps, more auditions than I ever imagined, rehearsals, two different choirs and two other musical ensembles, and two theatrical performances (one this past Saturday and one still to come). All this on top of school. And writing plays. Whoops. :/ But I have not forgotten about this story! I have a good bit of chapter three done, and I am still working on it as much as I can. :)


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